Research

The Geology Department has a long history of student and faculty research. Our faculty actively engage students as research collaborators and mentor students in their research activities. Research is an important way for students to learn how to apply their classroom learning and prepares them for jobs and graduate school.

Research Highlights

All students conduct independent research as part of their senior project.

Students and faculty regularly publish articles and present their research at national and regional professional meetings.

Many geology/environmental geology students work with faculty on independent research projects. Projects commonly involve fieldwork out of state (e.g. Alaska, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Saskatchewan). Although most students who work with faculty are seniors, about 25 percent of students have worked on independent projects with faculty prior to their senior year.

Senior Project

The Senior Project is the capstone of the geology program. Every Alleghenian completes a Senior Project in her or his major field—a significant piece of original work, designed by the student under the guidance of a faculty advisor. These projects demonstrate to employers and graduate schools a student’s ability to complete a major assignment, to work independently, to analyze and synthesize information, and to write and speak persuasively. Senior Projects are proposed during the junior year in the Junior Seminar—a class that emphasizes critical analysis of professional literature and of geology in the field via a week-long field experience. Senior Projects are commonly supported by grant funds, conducted out-of-state, and/or presented at national and regional meetings.

Some recent examples of Senior Projects:

“A comparison of delineation techniques for the Meadville area water authority public-water supply wells”

“Assessment of a braided fluvial system in the Paleogene Renova Formation as a proxy for buried aquifers in intermontane basins of southwest Montana”